Beilue: ‘It’s your job to bless others'

Despite young age, 2019 graduate starts scholarship contest

Angel Ross had just finished earning her degree in health sciences from West Texas A&M University in 2019 when she turned her gaze not so much forward to what the future held as to behind and where she had been.

Where she had been was where other students are now, others who could use a little help.

“I had this vision of how can I serve our students,” she said. “How can I give back? Where can students be helped most? The biggest need for most students is always money.”

From that basic simple idea came a scholarship — the Martin Luther King, Jr. video essay scholarship contest, the theme of which is “Be the Change You Want to See.” The three scholarship recipients were announced at WT’s Black History Month banquet on March 4: Jordan Conde, freshman digital communications and media student from Dumas, first place; Tearanne Lockhart, sophomore broadcast journalism major from Amarillo, second place; and Kimberly Gladney, sophomore pre-communication disorders major from Conroe, third place.

“I see it as once you’ve been blessed, that it’s your job to be a blessing to others,” Ross said. “We aren’t put on this earth to be selfish. It’s totally the opposite. It’s to be selfless. Now I was in the position to implement change and be the change.”

Ross graduated from Life Charter High School in Dallas in 2015. Most of her friends went to college in the greater Dallas area, or just a few hours away. Ross wanted more of a change. More specifically, she wanted more distance.

“I wanted to stay in the A&M system. I had been to College Station but it was too big and not far enough away for me,” she said. “One of my friends asked me if I’d heard of WT, that it was in the A&M system. I hadn’t. We went up to Canyon together and I’ve been here ever since. It’s six hours away, and that’s perfect.”

Miles away and on her own, Ross had her values strengthened. Now, not only is she student services coordinator for the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, but is due to graduate with a master’s in communication in December.

Before that, she had the goal of helping others, but then COVID-19 delayed that. But in the pandemic of a year ago, it only confirmed the need to help students financially.

“It was a ‘God thing,’” Ross said, “because it was now students definitely need some funding help. But with this, we wanted to say that after all we’ve been through in 2020, let’s go out now and be the change. We are the next generation.”

Ross wanted to offer financial incentive for students to produce a five-minute video on being the change they wanted to see. In leading a four-person committee of the Black Women’s Association, there was the not-so-small matter of funding the scholarship contest.

Over the Christmas break, Ross volunteered for the North Side Toy Drive in Amarillo. Through some networking there, she found some funding sources to approach.

“I was saying that we were really struggling looking for funding, and it was, ‘Oh, here’s some people that would be interested,’” Ross said. “Literally, it happened just like that. Very simply, if you don’t ask, you never know.”

The major scholarship sponsors are the Toy Drive itself, ABC7 Amarillo and Dr. Eddie Henderson, dean of the College of Education and Social Sciences. In addition, the BWA sold T-shirts of “Be the Change” for Black History Month. Some of the proceeds went to the scholarship.

“Speaking of my own experience as a college student many years ago, I guarantee that I did not have the same mindset as Angel in thinking about other students and their needs,” said Dr. Mary Liz Brooks, assistant professor of media communications. “Angel is that rare person who, at such a young age, has a genuine interest in making students’ lives better.”

After going through the scholarship services, the BWA scholarship committee had enough money to award $1,000 for first place, $500 for second place, and $250 for third. A separate six-person group judged entries. The expectation is for the funding to be in place for at least three years.

Photo: Jordan Conde, left, and Tearanne Lockhart won first and second place in the inaugural Martin Luther King Jr. video essay scholarship contest sponsored by Black Women's Association of WTAMU.

Conde, the freshman from Dumas, saw the email about the contest at the start of the spring semester. The reason most students don’t receive scholarship money is they don’t apply. He initially shrugged off the email. Then encouragement from Dr. Michael McFarland in mid-January to his basic video production class changed his mind.

“The more I found out what it was, the more I really cared what the message behind it was and why I should do it,” Conde said.

His video, which he completed during the sub-zero arctic blast in mid-February, was judged the winner. That $1,000 will fit nicely into his budget.

“For me, I find it a big struggle,” he said. “I don’t spend money eating out. I’m eating on campus all the time. To think that WT is one of the cheaper universities nationwide, I know I wouldn’t be able to afford to attend bigger universities. I love WT, I really do, but every dime I earn is spent toward college.”

Conde’s 3 ½-minute video focused on seeing those who are different as people, not symbols, be that the homeless, and those whose ethnicity and religion are in the minority.

For Ross, beginning the MLK scholarship essay contest is extension of what she does. She is one of seven student service coordinators among colleges at WT. She is a conduit to students who are running into obstacles and can feel overwhelmed.

“A lot of times students don’t know where to go, or what to do, especially first-generation college students. That’s when the coordinators step in and give them that time to help them,” Ross said. “I describe myself as the google to the college campus. If you come to me and I don’t have that answer for you, I will find that answer.

“You can’t touch them all, but even if it’s just one or two, I try to do what I can to help them along their journey. If I can get a ‘thank you’ from one person, that’s good enough for me.”

Do you know of a student, faculty member, project, an alumnus or any other story idea for “WT: The Heart and Soul of the Texas Panhandle?” If so, email Jon Mark Beilue at jbeilue@wtamu.edu.